A Legacy of Courage Across Oceans

Remembering My Great-Grandfather, Theodor Bastian

Every Remembrance Day, we pause to honour those whose sacrifices secured the freedoms we enjoy today. For me, remembrance is both a personal and historical reflection from reaching back to stories I never had the chance to hear firsthand, yet which continue to shape the fabric of my family’s history.

My great-grandfather, Theodor Bastian, was a member of the White Army in Russia, one of countless soldiers caught in the upheaval of the Russian Civil War following the Bolshevik Revolution. When the Bolsheviks took power, millions faced persecution or exile. Theodor was among the 1.5 to 2 million refugees who fled Russia after the war, leaving behind everything familiar to protect his family from an uncertain and dangerous future.

He eventually made his way to Canada, helping his entire family, including his wife Anna and their eleven children, resettle and begin again in a country defined by opportunity and peace. Though he passed away long before I was born (more than twenty years before, in fact), I often think about the will it must have taken to cross continents and rebuild from so little. His story was one I heard in some detail growing up, but discovering it more recently gives me a renewed appreciation for the resilience that runs quietly through generations.

Several of Theodor’s sons fought for Canada and the Allied Forces during WWII; a powerful reflection of how deeply the family’s gratitude for their adopted homeland ran. Having arrived in Canada as refugees, they chose to defend it out of appreciation for the country that had given them the chance to start over.

That spirit of service and appreciation also continued with his eldest daughter, my great-aunt, Frieda Hutton (née Bastian). She joined the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC) during the Second World War and was posted to Aldershot, England, where she spent some of the most adventurous and meaningful years of her life. Frieda was one of the last CWACs to return home, helping to process paperwork for war brides crossing the Atlantic after the war.

Together, their stories remind me that courage takes many forms. Some fought on battlefields, others crossed oceans, and still others built lives of quiet strength in new lands.

I only know fragments of memories through stories and research from past generations now gone. Yet on this Remembrance Day, I feel deep respect for their choices, their endurance, and their dedication to a country that became home.

Remembrance is not only about those we knew; it’s also about uncovering and honouring the threads of history that brought us here. Their journeys remind me that freedom is not inherited lightly; it is built, defended, and cherished by those who believed in something better.

Lest we forget.